Fame - The Sims 4 Guide - IGN (2024)

Fame is the only measure that matters when it comes to a budding celebrity in The Sims. Rated on a scale of 0 stars to 5, a Sim's fame level dictates how other Sims react to them in the world and the various Celebrity Perks available to them.

By default, all Sims are able to immediately gain fame once the Get Famous expansion pack is installed. This can be toggled off in the Options menu in the Get Famous tab. Checking the box, as seen below, will by default all Sims out of being famous. Note that this only affects new Sims and Sims who haven't started yet; Sims who are already famous will continue to be so.

Regardless of this option, all Sims can step into or out of the spotlight when being controlled. When Sims are not being controlled, their Fame Level will be frozen.

The Sims Personality Panel of the Interface has a new feature that tracks a Sim's current public reputation and fame level. To toggle whether the Sim is gathering fame, click the little round button next to "Fame Points." This will take you to the Celebrity Perks screen.

A button in the bottom-left corner will toggle the Sim's current state of fame. If they're already famous, the button will allow them to leave the spotlight, thus removing perks and side effects. If they're not famous, this allows them to start gaining fame. Note that if a Sim leaves the spotlight and later reenters it, they need to start from the bottom.

Assuming the Sim is toggled to gather fame, certain actions will gain fame points. These will be clearly marked when being selected from the interaction pie menu. A green star with a plus sign will clearly mark that the Sim will acquire points from the action. Fame can only be gained, not lost, from actions.

The simplest and easiest way to gain a little fame on a daily basis is to update your Simstagram Story. To do this, have your Sim use their cellphone and simply select the "Add to Simstagram Story" option in the first tab. This provides very few points, but any is better than nothing. You can also start a social media profile from home and update your status through your cellphone for the same results.

Sims can only lose fame by doing nothing. If a Sim goes more than a couple days without doing any fame-gaining actions, you'll get an alert in the top-right corner of the screen notifying you of the potential of fame decay.

Once that notification is received, the Sim will have about a day to do something to maintain their level of fame. If you need a quick action, updating the Simstagram Story is a great idea because it can be done from any lot within a few seconds.

That said, updating your social media profile or Simstagram Story only provides a very small number of fame points. You'll gain more fame by doing more important actions. Aside from the Actor career, jobs do not provide any fame even if they theoretically should, such as the Political career track.

However, most other top-level actions will provide some level of fame. For example, Sims can't get fame from entering novice gaming tournaments, but they will gain fame from entering professional ones. Painting and selling the paintings to collectors will gain fame, as will Writing books.

One more way a Sim can get famous just by living their normal lives is to get a streaming drone. It's called the "Up and Adam Streaming Drone," and it's located in the Electronics sort of Build Mode. The little drone can be upgraded with the Handiness skill to increase its effectiveness.

Once bought, the drone can be activated and can follow your Sim around as they go about their daily actions. Not every action gets fame, but many that wouldn't on their own will once you've got an audience. The drone can even be pocketed and deployed while visiting another lot.

The drone has limited batteries and will float to the ground when it's done. However, it recharges while sitting there and only takes a few in-game seconds to become functional again. Its batteries can even be upgraded, so having it follow you around for a while can help your Sim become a video star just by living their normal life.

When your Sim gathers enough fame points, they will add a star to their fame level and you will get a notification. Your Sim will gain at least a couple points for Celebrity Perks and other Sims will start reacting a little differently. While no one really treats 1-star celebrities any differently, at the 3-star level you'll be followed around by paparazzi and may even have other Sims faint at the sight of you!